Coal-washer



- 2 Shee'tS- -Shee't 1-. S. STUTZ.

GOAL WASHER.

(No Model.)

Patented Nov. 13, 1888..

ATTORNEY,

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GOAL WASHER.

Patented Nov. 13 8B8- ATTORNEY.

INVENTOI? (No Model.)

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NITED STATES Y PATENT Fries.

I SEBASTIAN STUTZ, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,974, dated N v m r 1888- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SEBASTIAN S'rUTZ, re

siding at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Coal- Washers, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to coal-washing nia- IO chines of the type which is exemplified in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 324,341, granted and issued to me under date of August 11, 1885, and as further improved in an application for Letters Patent filed by me of even I 5 date herewith; and its object is to enable the separation of slate and other impurities from the coal, to be eifected thoroughly and without substantial loss of valuable constituents of the material by the provision of novel means for subjecting the purified coal derived from the washing operation, as performed in the ma chines above referred to, a second time to the action of water before being discharged from the apparatus. The improvements claimed are hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through a coalwashing machine embodying my invention at the line :0 a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical lon- 3o gitudinal section through the same at the line y y of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a View, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section at the line 22 v of Fig. 2, of the portion of the machine containing the supplemental or secondary washing apparatus.

The separating box or chest 1 is, as in my prior constructions, divided into a series of separate compartments, (three being shown in this instance) each of which is subdivided and fitted with separating mechanism independent piston chamber, 7, provided with a piston, 28,

fitted to reciprocate vertically by means of the piston-rod 29, yoke 30, cam 31, and drivingshaft 14, a preliminary washing-chamber divided by a curved partition, 3, into a separating-compartment, 4, above the said part1- tion, and the dead-water or sediment compartment 5 below the partition 3. Said washingchamber is provided with a screen or sieve, 8, and communicates with the piston-chamber 7 by means of openings governed by valves 6, a slate-chamber, 11, having screw-conveyer 13, and communicating with the preliminary washing-chamber by means of the slate-opening 9, governed by a valve, 10, the top of said slate-chamber being covered by the delivery bridge or dam 20, extending along the point of the preliminary washingchamber and above the slate-opening 9,- a supplemental or secondary washingchamber, 85, provided with a screen or sieve, 86, and a reciprocating piston, 87, fixed upon apiston-rod, S8, and receiving movement from the piston-rod 29 by means of the double-armed lever or beam 92, a slatechamber, 101, having screw-conveyer 102, and communicating with the secondary washingchamber 85 by means of the slate-opening 99, governed by a valve, 100, the top of said slatechamber being formed by a dam or deliverybridge, 104, extending along the front of the secondary washingchamber and above the slate-opening 99, in all similarto the preliminary chamber, and a washed-coal-receiving compartment, 105, in front of the chambers and common to all the machines combined in one chest. Said coal-receiving compartment is provided with a conveyer, 106, for removing the washed coal to a suitable elevator, in view of further storage, or direct into cars, the reason for using a conveyer instead of the inclined trough, as heretofore, being to deliver the coal in a drier state and to avoid the use of any more Water than remains adhering to the coal particles from the washing, thus saving the very fine coal from being carried off by the waste water.

As will be seen from the drawings, Fig. 1, all the chambers, from that containing the plungers 28 to the washed-coal-receiving compartment 105, are in one continuous straight succession and in a line at right angles with the driving-shaft 14, common to two or more machines combined together.

The piston-rod 29 of the piston 28, passing through a guide and stuffing-box to the outside of the chamber 7, is provided at its lower end with a shoe, in construction similar to the one shown in my patent above referred to, with the exception of the arm 95, supporting the link 94 for the purpose of connection with the beam 92. The latter isjournaled in a bearing, 93, set on the foundation of the machine. The piston-rod 88, supporting the piston 87 below the sieve 86 of the secondary washing-chamber, also passes through a guide and stuffingbox, 89, to the outside, and is provided at its lower end with the same kind of a shoe, to be connected to the other end of the beam 92. Thus the up-anddown movement or action of the piston 87 is fixed by the relative lengths of the arms of saidv beam 92, and motion to the piston-rod 29 in either direction will consequently effect motion in the opposite direction of the piston rod 88 and piston 87 thereon. The upper surface of said piston 87 is inclined toward the delivery-dam and divided into a series of concave channels, 97, for the purpose of accelerating the delivery of the material upon the sieve toward the outlet, and also to U keep itself free from fine sediment passing through the meshes ofthe sieve. For the same purpose I also provide the channels with a number of small holes, 98. A series of vertical channels or slots, 98, corresponding with the piston-channels 97, is formed on the delivery-side of the chamber 85, to receive and conduct the fine sediment not passing through the holes 98 below the piston and toward outlets governed by suitable valves.

Both slate-chambers 11 and 101 are provided with similar conveyer-s, 13 and 102, common to all the washing-machines in one box, by which the impurities are forwarded int-o bu ckets 46 and 103, respectively, of the slate-elevators, to be discharged outside.

The amount of water necessary for the wash- 7 ing operation is taken under the piston 28 in the same manner as shown in my patentjust referred to, from which it passes through the valve 6 into the preliminary washing-chamher, and thence, by means of pipes 107, Figs. 2 and 3, into the secondary washing-chamber 85 above the piston 87.

The area of the inlet-pipe at the rear of the piston-chamber 7 is larger than the combined area of the three pipes leading to the secondary washing-chamber 85. Besides this, the layer of material upon the sieve in the secondary chamber prevents the free passage of the water and only allows it to filter through slowly.

The operation of the machine is as follows: All the chambers having been previously filled with water and movement given to the camshaft 14, coal is fed upon the sieve 8 from the hopper 22, and by passing underneath the hinged gate-board 23, the lower edge of the latter being below the water-level, all the material must pass under the water toward the front. The angle of inclination or opening of the gate is regulated by the bolt 82 and depends on the feeding. As the material reaches the sieve, the force of the water-currents produced by the plunger 28 steadi ly'sends the pure coal-pieces, as the lighter part of the mixture, to the top of the layer, until the space above the sieve is nearly filled to the level of the delivery-dam 20, whence it is carried over the latter by means of a scraping mechanism similar to those shown and described in another application filed of even date herewith. The partly-cleaned product thus obtained from the preliminary washing, instead of being discharged into a delivery trough, or compartment, as heretofore, falls upon another sieve, 86, ofa secondary washing-chamber, 85. Here it is subjected to a second and final cleaning operation, exerted by the pulsating currents produced by the piston 87. The now perfectly clean coal, as it reaches the top of the layer, is delivered over the dam 104 by another scraper, similar in construction, into the receiving compartment 105, whence the conveyer 106 removes it farther. WVhile the coal particles are thus moved from the hopper 22 to the conveyer 106 the impurities contained in the mixture are also forced to move in the same direction by means of the watercurrents directed against the sieve. The major part of the coarse slate and sulphur, separated in the preliminary washingchamber, is caused to pass through an opening, 9, governed by a valve, 10, into the slate-chamber 11, from which it reaches the outside by means of the conveyer l3 and the buckets 46 of the slateelevator. The rest of the impurities delivered over the dam 20 with the coal, and separated from thelatter in the secondary washing-chamber, passes in a similar way through an opening, 99, governed by a valve, 100, into the slate-chamber 101, whence it is carried to the outside, the same as from slate-chamber 11.

The use of a differential cam, 31, producing a quick downward and a slow upward movement of the plunger 28, also produces the same movement of the piston 87, only in the opposite direction, but coincidently, the two pistons being connected by means of the beam 92. To counterbalance the weight of the piston 87, with its rod 88, and to assist in effecting the rapid upward movement of the latter, a stiff helical spring, 91, is inserted between the shoe of the piston-rod 88 (the latter being extended for the purpose) and the foundation. Said spring 91, being compressed and bent at each descent of the piston 87, will exert as soon as released its power in promoting the upward movement of the piston. A similar result may be attained by the addition of weight to the plunger 28, to which the piston-rod 88 is connected, as presently described.

My invention allows two or more machines in one box, the drawings showing three, each one working independently of the other, the several sieves 8 and 86 being disposed in a line at right angles to the driving-shaft of the different machines and in the same line with the water-currents, purposely produced by the piston 28 and the curved bottom of its chamber.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim herein, and desire 'to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a coal-washer, the combination of a preliminary and secondary separating-chamber arranged in a line at right angles to the line of the driving-shaft, each fitted with a screen or sieve, a piston working in a chamber communicating with the preliminary chamber below its sieve, and a secondary piston fitted to work in the secondary chamber below its screen, and coupled by means of a doublearmed lever to the piston of the preliminary chamber, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a coal-washer, the combination of two or more washing or separating chambers arranged in a line at right angles with the line of the driving-shaft, each chamber fitted with a screen or sieve, a piston working in a chamber below its sieve, a secondary piston fitted to reciprocate below the seive of said secondary chamber, and a lever or walking-beam connecting the two piston-rods below the bottom of the chambers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a coal-washer, the combination of two or more washing or separating chambers arranged in a line at right angles with the line of the driving-shaft, each chamber fitted with a screen or sieve, a piston-chamber and the piston working therein communicating with the preliminary separating-chamber below its sieve, a secondary piston fitted to reciprocate below the sieve of said secondary chamber, a lever 0r Walking-beam connecting the two piston-rods below the bottom of the chambers,

and a spring or springs bearing upwardly against the secondary piston-rod, as set forth.

4. The combination of a group of two or more coal or ore washing machines, each machine composed of a series of washing-chambers fitted with sieves or screens and arranged in a line at right angles with the line of the driving-shaft, a series of-slate-compartments in connection with the preliminary chambers, a series of slate-compartments in connection with the secondary chambers, and a drivingshaft common to all of said machines and separating-chambers, as set forth.

5. In a coal-washing machine, the combination of a separating-chamber, a sieve or screen fitted in the upper portion of said chamber, a piston working in said chamber and having a series of inclined chambers on its upper face, and a series of corresponding vertical channels formed on the side of the chamber adjacent to the lower ends of the inclined channels of the piston, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SEBASTIAN S'IU'IZ. \Vitnesses: J. Snowman BELL, It. H. WHITTLESEY. 

